Freeing temples from state control

What is scandalous is the corruption after the takeover of temples as politicians and officials loot the temple’s wealth and land, and divert donations of devotees to non-religious purposes

The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment on January 6, 2013, allowing my Special Leave Petition that sought the quashing of the Tamil Nadu Government’s G.O. of 2006 which had mandated the government takeover of the hallowed Sri Sabhanayagar Temple (popularly known as the Nataraja temple).

The Madras High Court Single Judge and Division Bench had in 2009 upheld the constitutionality of the G.O. by a tortuous and convoluted logic that new laws can overturn past court judgments that had attained finality earlier. The Supreme Court in 1953 had dismissed the then Madras Government’s SLP seeking the quashing of a Madras High Court Division Bench judgment of 1952 that had upheld the right of Podu Dikshitars to administer the affairs of the Nataraja temple while dismissing all charges of misappropriation of temple funds against the Dikshitars. The Supreme Court thus made this judgment final and hence that which cannot be re-opened. But in 2009 the Madras High Court did precisely that. In 2014, in my SLP, the Supreme Court Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde therefore termed this re-opening of the matter as “judicial indiscipline” and set aside the 2009 Madras High Court judgment as null and void on the principle of Res Judicata.

In their lengthy judgment, the Bench has clearly set the constitutional parameters on the scope of governmental intervention in the management of religious institutions. In particular, the Court has opined that any G.O. that legally mandates a takeover of a temple must be for a fixed limited period, which I had suggested as three years.

The Dravidian movement intellectuals and politicians in various parties in Tamil Nadu are incensed with the judgment. The recent article “Reforms in the House of God” (A. Srivathsan in The Hindu January 13, 2013) is one such example that laments the Supreme Court judgment.

In this Dravidian movement background, it is not difficult to understand the views of those who believe that Hindu temples ought to be managed by the government, and that any deviation is a social, ethical, moral and legal sacrilege! In Mr. Srivathsan’s article it is stated that: “For almost a century, the Tamil Nadu government has been trying to bring the Chidambaram Natarajar temple or the Sabanayagar temple as it is officially known, under state administration”. This is one expression of the outlook that only Hindu religious affairs need to be managed by the government. The obvious question, why should a ‘secular, socialist’ government control only Hindu places of worship, but not Muslim and Christian religious institutions clearly has been avoided.

But the country has moved on after the phase of British imperialist grip on Tamil Nadu during which phase the Dravidian Movement was founded. Prominent leaders of this Movement had declared that “blowing up of the Nataraja Temple by a cannon is the goal of the Dravidian Movement”. Unfortunately for them, in the last two decades, the rising popularity of the Hindu religion among the youth, and the debilitating corruption in financial affairs of the Dravidian movement have made such a violent aim unattainable. But the biggest roadblock is the Constitution of India.

In fact, what is scandalous is the corruption after takeover of temples by the Tamil Nadu officials, MLAs and Ministers by looting the temple wealth, lands, and jewels, and the reckless diversion of donations of devotees to non-religious purposes.

For example, temple properties: Tamil Nadu temples, under Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, has control over more than 4.7 lakh acres of agricultural land, 2.6 crore square feet of buildings and 29 crore square feet of urban sites of temples. By any reasonable measure, the income from these properties should be in thousand of crores of rupees. The government, however, collects a mere Rs.36 crore in rent against a ‘demand’ of mere Rs.304 crore — around 12 per cent realisation. How much is under the table only a court-monitored inquiry can reveal. In any corporate or well-managed organisation with accountability, those responsible would have been sacked. Yet, we have people rooting for ‘government administration’.

Temples themselves: The Srirangam Ranganathar Temple paid the government a (yearly) fee of Rs. 18.56 crore (2010-11) for ‘administering the temple’; for employees rendering religious services, like reciting Vedas, Pasurams during the deity procession, no salary is paid’. There are 36 priests in Srirangam who perform the daily poojas — they are not paid a monthly fixed salary. They are entitled to offerings made by devotees and a share in the sale of archana tickets. Yet the temple pays a monthly salary ranging from Rs.8,000 to Rs.20,000 for the temple’s government-appointed employees, like watchman, car drivers etc. who perform no religious duties.

The situation is “significantly” better at the famous Nelliappar Temple in Tirunelveli. In this temple, priests performing daily pujas are paid monthly salaries, but ranging from Rs. 55-Rs. 72 (and this is during 2010-11). But did some politician not say you can have a hearty meal for Rs. 5 per day? But it is just Rs.1.65 per day, going by the standards of the ‘secular’ government.

Many large temples maintain a fleet of luxury vehicles, typically the ‘fully loaded Toyota Innova’, for the use of VIPs! And for the use of assorted Joint and Additional Commissioners and, of course, the Commissioner himself. It is very difficult to understand the religious purpose such extravagance serves or even a ‘secular’ purpose! The HR & CE takes away annually around Rs.89 crore from the temples as administrative fee. The expenditure of the department including salaries is only Rs.49 crore. Why does the government overcharge the temples– literally scourging the deities – for a sub standard service?

Temple antiquity: The third ‘contribution’ of the government is the mindless destruction of priceless architectural heritage of our temples.

There are several instances of sand blasting of temple walls resulting in loss of historical inscriptions; wholesale demolition of temple structures and their replacement by concrete monstrosities; in a temple in Nasiyanur near Salem, an entire temple mandapam disappeared, leaving behind a deep hole in the ground, literally.

Recently the government started covering the floor of Tiruvotriyur temple with marble, a stone never used in south Indian temples. The original floor was of ancient granite slabs with historical inscriptions. There are several initiatives for ‘renovation’ of temples — the bureaucrats rarely consult archaeologists or heritage experts. Without knowledge, experience, competence or appreciation and with great insensitivity they use inappropriate chemicals on ancient murals, insert concrete/cement structures, use ceramic tiles to ‘embellish’ sanctum sanctorum and construct ‘offices’ within temple premises. Ancient monuments 300 to 1000 plus years old are never ‘renovated’, only ‘restored’, a distinction that escapes the babus.

More importantly, the Supreme Court, in the 2014 Chidambaram case has held that the government cannot arbitrarily take over temples, which is what has been happening in Tamil Nadu under the Dravidian movement’s influence.

In the case of Trusts and Societies, takeover of temples can happen, the Supreme Court held, only on establishing a clear case of mal-administration and that too the takeover can be for a limited period, and the management of the temple will have to be handed back immediately after the ‘evil has been remedied’.

There are several large temples in Tamil Nadu under government control for several decades. If the Supreme Court judgment is applied, then the government is in illegal, unethical and unfair control of these temples. apart from being answerable for innumerable acts of dereliction of duty, defiling of temples that has resulted in loss of several thousands of crores of rupees to the temples and to their antiquity. That is my next move — to liberate all Hindu temples presently in government control on expired GOs. In the future we need to bring some mosques and churches to rectify the mismanagement going on in these places. Then the secularism of India’s intellectuals will be truly tested.

(The writer is a former Union Minister and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party)

Our esteemed reader Mr. Kumar is not aware of the fact that before "Dravidian movement", almost 90% of all the "white collar" jobs were occupied by "certain caste" people. Somehow the literacy rate among the "certain caste" people was 95% but the rest of the tamilnadu was just 12%. It was because of "Dravidian" movement, then the ruling party "congress" was forced to make lots of amendments in the law to educate and accommodate others in the society which is the main reason why the "certain caste" people still hate "DMK". Dravidian movement then was pretty much like today's kejriwal's agitation that attracted lots of support from the "MAJORITY TAMILS" which is the reason why Mr. Karunanidhi still remains "Unbeaten" in the elections.

from:
John

Posted on: Jan 21, 2014 at 14:44 IST

Excellent article from Dr.Swamy. In many of the temples HR&CE endowment is not functioning properly and lot of properties have been misused, which is the prime duty of this endowment to protect. But, apart from managing and protecting the properties of the temples, the endowment assumes the role of temple manager interfering the temple worship and making the archakas as labour. Apart from this the political interference in temples for collecting special fees, thiruppani donation etc and corruption goes jointly. Just google "HR&CE's relentless iconoclasm" and you will see the works supported by HR&CE is a temple promoting political figures engraved in temple doors. As rightly mentioned by Dr.Swamy about the Nasiyanur temple, there the 16-pillared mandapa disappeared overnight and was contructed in concrete.

from:
Yuvasenthil

Posted on: Jan 21, 2014 at 12:46 IST

As well of the article has been written and as much as I agree to the fact that bring a temple under with a corrupt administration and political structure is not much of any help,Mr. Subramanian Swamy is missing the important point.
1st the need to regulate or check the money that is given by followers to a Temple cause as much as he is focusing on the misuse of funds by the administrators and officials the same could be applied to the priest (who do misuse temple funds for their personal gain) and not to forget the misuse of their position as the father is always replaced by the son.
Such management also doesnt allow Dalits, SC/STs in some temples
2nd point about bringing mosques and churches under such purview. Both of the given dont follow the successor structure. the priests keep changing in accordance to their merit and since both are minorities and major population is poor they are fund by a single entity who also manages the account(funds).

from:
Azmaan

Posted on: Jan 21, 2014 at 02:17 IST

One of our esteemed readers have pointed out (in his comments), that the Dravidian Movement has provided opportunities to jobs, education and health care and this was an outcome of the temples being taken over by the government. I beg to differ with his assessment. The jobs et all were provided by reservations (over 90% in TN) and have nothing to do with Temple administration. I believe there should be a strict separation between the state and the church.

from:
Kumar

Posted on: Jan 21, 2014 at 02:09 IST

Really, the administration of religious places should be an collaboration between the government and religious head. Thus, both people's religious sentiment and management of temple funds can be handled efficiently.

from:
balaji krishna

Posted on: Jan 21, 2014 at 00:39 IST

What about other states ?, In Karnataka almost all old temples are under the control of the Gvt.

from:
bschandru

Posted on: Jan 21, 2014 at 00:14 IST

Temple management should be left with the local people with participation of Dhiksidars and local people of eminence not by any party or local panjayat or municipality or corportion. State participation make the local powerful political parties to take over.

from:
Jayaraman

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 23:31 IST

This is a very commendable achievement for Dr. Subramanian Swamy. I congratulate him for this and also congratulate all spiritually evolved citizens in Tamil Nadu. A TRUE Secular government shall not interfere with any sectarian or religious affairs of the citizens nor make any law that addresses the various religious faiths or even atheism but treat all citizens as Human beings of the nation. The Hindu Temples and Nadams should be governed by Hindu community and Hindu leaders only. Initially the current Temples in HR&CE control should be transferred to an autonomous body and administered by the elected / appointed Hindu leaders just like Universities and gradually can have individual or groups of Hindu Temple Trusts for each group of Temples. As for Government control in these affairs - they can have a Religious establishments audit Board which will monitor financial and administrative deals of ALL religious bodies like Local Funds audit - including Christian and Muslim establishment

from:
Bala N.

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 23:13 IST

The bane of Indian society has been that economic surplus has not been used for pursuit of knowledge leading to technologies for betterment of human life. This involves transfer of knowledge and technology to the public as well. It is quite evident that has not happened in the past couple of hundreds of years whether the resources were controlled by the government or, by the priests and hereditary temple workers. The offerings by devotees to these temples are economic surplus provided to these temples to administer to pursue knowledge and transmit it to the public for the protection and betterment of human life. Unfortunately this has not happened for sure, at least in the past three to four hundred years whether it was controlled by the state government or by the hereditary priests and temple workers. We need to explore why economic surplus accorded to these temples for this important social contract was not put to the intended use. This is a clear case of moral hazard

from:
Dave Kautilya

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 23:11 IST

OK, the government should not be administering the temples as most of today's political parties are corrupt. What should be done to the temple lands on which residential homes have been built and ordinary residents have been living for many decades. What is the solution? Suddenly asking them to pay enormous amounts of money for the rented land is sacrilege. Who should be administering the temples, churches, mosques and their lands? All government administrators/trusts will be coerced and influenced by our Dravidian politicians...

from:
SrI

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 21:13 IST

It is very necessary to maintain the holy temples in the country, keeping in view their importance in the social life of people. We must conserve them in order to keep the harmony and positive faith in the minds of people intact. But the problem comes when someone sees temples as an innocent source to earn money. This is really bad and in a devotee's terms, it is indeed a sin. Now tell me, how we can manage a temple when we ourselves are doing 'sin' for carrying it out? The politicians and corrupt bureaucrats engaged in ripping profits out of a temple's operation should see to it that the devotees will one day stop coming there. That will not only be bad for those who work in it, but also for the religious health of the nation!

from:
vivek patil

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 21:02 IST

Mr Subramania swamy has presented a nice case which almost reflects the thinking of majority of people . However if you see the historic background most of the lands for the temple maintenance were given by the kings when they built the temples . The kings appointed the priests and for their livelihood gave some land . It is not clear to day how the administration of temples were carried out during their time . Some mutts were holding administrative control on some temples till recently and the temples were deteriorating . There were no Hindu society big enough and wiling to take over the administrative burden . The Govt found the easy solution like nationalizing the banks .The Govt as a model employer should pay the priest a good salary from the consolidated income from all the temples and maintain the temples since even if the Govt wants to get rid of its control on Hindu temples they do not know to whom to hand over the administration .

from:
sbalaraman

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 19:43 IST

The offerings made to the temple belongs to the temple management and must be spent towards to the infrastructure of the temple and the priest who perform the service. The priest must be paid a decent salary, health cards, free education or subsidized education for their children etc. so that they do their service to the deities without thinking of ways to take money from the devotees. The temples can be run by individuals but any renovations must take a prior approvals from Archaeological division / department (if such a department exist). Well written article by Dr. Swami.

from:
Gowri Sairamn

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 19:36 IST

In the background of the recent Supreme Court judgment and the two articles by A. Sreevatsan and Subrmanian Swamy on Tamilnadu temples, it looks relevant to re-read the history of Kerala temples. "Vast majority of Devaswoms in the State (Travancore) were founded and endowed by the people and were managed by Ooralars or Trustees and the State had no concern with the management of these temples. In 1811, Col. Munro, who was then the British Resident in Travancore and Cochin, assumed also the Dewanship of the State. The assumption of the management of Devaswoms was one of the earliest measures carried out by the Dewan Resident". Until this time, only a few Devaswoms were under the direct control of the State. Even before 1811, Munro had advised and pressurised the Maharaja of Travancore for the assumption of the temples. The British Resident had had his eyes on the huge income of many of these temples which, he found as a source to collect his share of money (kappam) from the native King. The present political parties in the State shall realise that this historical reason to enforce a government administration in temples does not exist, the Englishmen having already left the country.
The temples with their properties were taken over by the government not under any statutory law or regulation. This was done by a simple executive order. This was brought about in exercise of the Melkoima right ( right of superintendence) of the Kings over the trustees. The present leaders shall again realise that they do not own any such Melkoima right to take over or administer the temples. Later in 1907, Justice Ramachandra Rao, Chief Justice of Travancore High Court made detailed investigations and reported to the government on the assumption of temples by the State. The question of institutions of other religions, which were kept outside the purview of any take-over, was also considered. It should be noted that the assumption of Hindu temples was ratified and allowed to be continued on the âhopeâ that the Hindu King, a believer in God and who rules the kingdom as Padmanbhadasa (the servant of Lord Sreepadmanabha of the SriPadmanabhaswami temple) would take care of the temples and strive for their uplift. The present-day law-makers shall realise that they do not qualify to manage the Hindu temples on this ground.
Moreover, the governments of the day do not have any legal or moral right to discriminate among various religious institutions. If at all they propose to interfere in religious matters to any extent, it shall be uniformly applicable and acceptable to all religions. A secular and democratic government need not unduly be enthusiastic about Hindu temples only. The government should better go for a uniform and effective rule to eliminate corruption in all religious institutions by enacting some Religious and Charitable Institutions & Endowments Bill. Incidentally government controlled temples in Kerala are embodiments of inefficiency and corruption and violation of temple rituals, practices and architecture.
In the absence of the conditions existed at the time of assumption of temples, the administration of the temples under various Devaswom Boards shall be returned to the people. The government shall completely forgo its right to interfere in matters of the temples. The power of MLAs and Ministers to appoint members of Devaswom Boards shall be withdrawn forthwith. It may be noted that Ramachandra Rao's report had pointed out that the assumption of devaswoms by the State had proved prejudicial to the well-being of the institutions in that the public have ceased to take interest in the condition of temples. Legislation shall be made to rationalise and empower the working of Temple Advisory Committees which shall manage the temples. The members of the Devaswom Boards shall be elected by representatives of Temple Advisory Committees.

from:
P.R.V.Raja

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 19:33 IST

Mr Sawmiâs intention is amply clear. He wants to take over the temples and hand it over to his caste-men who are not currently getting a share in the loot. Why should temples and any other religious bodies own land other than what the structure requires or run schools or other institution of profit. All should be taken away. This property belongs to people of India. A religious body should be not be allowed to do anything other than performing rituals. Swami is a convoluted blocker. On what basis he calls the Constitution of India a roadblock?

from:
Deepankar Wavare

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 19:26 IST

The move to liberate Hindu temples from the clutches of corruption of government would be an agitation for a just cause and is noble too. It is redeeming and to be appreciated for activism. But the path to achieve ends by forcing take-over of mosques and churches is fallacious. Diversity in religions is to be used for its strength and not for provocation.
No doubt, Hindus have managed the affairs of temples for long. That these trusts could not guard the boundaries of the precincts got exposed when large scale theft of idols took place at different times resulting in huge losses. It was the government that later pursued and got the idols restored after years of legal battle. Healthy demand is receptive and active but a provocative one is disruptive and passive
The foremost aim should be to regain the control lost. To achieve this, features innate to history and losses on sanctity and cultural practice as a consequence of government take over should be the plank for raising voice.

from:
S Raghavan

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 18:56 IST

The only legitimate point here is that a secular government ought not to be mixing in religious affairs of any kind, regardless of whether it is corrupt or not. Obviously, our government and political parties openly use religion-based tactics for political advantage and so any do not qualify as secular parties in this sense.
There is however tremendous corruption in our temples, with or without government interference in this lucrative "business".
I recall visiting the famous temple at Tirupati a few times. Leave aside other things, one had to pay to get the "prasadam" that one was already entitled to when buying the entry tickets, with the man in charge of distribution saying "others will pay if you don't want to", and the priests were busy sorting the coins inside, not conducting prayers. Our religion like most others is corrupt to the core. No need to say more!

from:
Vivek

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 18:06 IST

Thanks subramaniam swamy for bringing out the facts clearly.

from:
subramanian

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 17:58 IST

During the recent months, quite a few Hindu institutions have been "taken over" by the TN govt. under the pretext of mismanagement. Some of these place in and around Chennai being the Anjaneya Temple (Nanganallur), Varasiddhi Vinayakar Temple (Besant Nagar), Ayodhya Mandapam (W. Mambalam). There should be many more in the districts as well. It would appear that only Hindu places of worship are mismanaged.

from:
kvjayan

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 17:57 IST

"Why only us Hindus when minorities are left free on their own?" is an old cry by conservatives in all the matters. It was there even when few reformers were trying to reform condition of widows or sati system, It was raised when Hindu code bill was being passed in 1950s too, and many times since then. While the reason is simple - being a Hindu majority country a few progressive Hindu leaders think of reforming their own religion, and they get support of progressive Hindus in this. For minorities some minority leader should take the initiative otherwise it will be controversial, that is why they are left free. People like Swamy, if instead of always comparing with minorities, just see the benefits these reforms are bringing to Hindus and Hindu religion, it will be much better for Hindus.

from:
S Ketan

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 17:43 IST

It's just a media and public stunt of political parties to free temples from state control...they just want to gain voters belief and their votes on behalf of doing this...we should ignore this thing...and support to don't equalize on the basis of religion...

from:
SHIV NADAR

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 17:37 IST

Mr. Swamy should head a movement to liberate all temples from the dirty hands of politicians and restore dignity to worship places. Only Mr. Swamy can do it single handedly.

from:
vijayaraghavan

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 16:06 IST

indian secularism don't check government power to intervene in religious affairs....but swami is dead right in context with prevalence of constitutional provision for freedom of managing religious affairs we need a law[statute] to be passed in legislature to make this provision effective.....

from:
satyakumar upadhyay

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 13:16 IST

First of all my sincere and heartfelt thanks to the Editor for publishing this article. Kudos to Dr.Swamy too for his unceasing one-man effort against the State for their misdoings. It is only when established newspapers like The Hindu give a platform for his views that it will reach a wider audience and people will be aware of the misappropriation of temple funds by the Government in the name of secularism. Temples should not be taken over by Government but a strict clause should also be added by the Hon'ble Supreme Court so that these temples should not practice any unconstitutional practices like "pankthi-bheda"(brahmins and non-brahmins been made to eat food separately), "made-snana"(rolling over on the left over food) etc. We need to get rid of these unconstitutional and unethical practices instead of hiding behind the facade of secularism and doing nothing worthwhile.

from:
N. K. Shenoy

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 12:58 IST

Mr. Swamy must be told that the last BJP government in Karnataka took over managements of tens of temples. What will he say to that?

from:
Dharmendra Chatur

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 12:12 IST

Sangh parivar wants to control all temples and use them for conducting their politics. They have been trying for it with little success. Now, Swamy has taken up that cause I guess.

from:
Subash

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 11:47 IST

Swamy's next move is "to liberate all Hindu temples presently in government control on expired GOs" and "to bring some mosques and churches to rectify the mismanagement going on in these places." And, this is the person who presses on applying the Constitution of India, but only to the former case! Whether government can control worship places, especially where there is mismanagement and maintenance of social subordination (such as refusing entry for some sections of people because of their castes, misappropriating funds, or any other kinds of issues, in temples or mosques or churches), or cannot control, is an important issue to be discussed, but in this writing of Swamy I do not see anything except his usual polemics against Dravidians and minorities, and the Hindutva vision of applying the Constitution of India only partially (remember who was pressurizing for the Review of Constitution of India, and for what reason)!

from:
Muthu

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 11:40 IST

That State controls all religious institutions or none is good idea. As regards Hindus, whether state controls or not, it is a fact that CASTE controls management through back-door even today. If present day priests and their forefathers, be Srirangam or any, really understood meaning of Vedic Rhymes they recite every day, & practiced it in their life, our land would have surely been a better place to live in. While one is for committees or trusts of devotees controlling their places of worship, one is compelled to state that Mr.Swamy's disregard for Dravidian movement and the âsinsâ it committed stems from his failure to grasp the oppressive caste prejudice and inhuman treatment that caste-lords meted out to compatriots of their time in TN (it exist even today in many places in our country). A recent report from Guruvayoor (Kerala) regarding an artist of Panchavadyam troupe being disallowed to perform in the temple should act as an eye-opener to those like Mr.Swamy, if they have eyes.

from:
KSKumar

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 11:37 IST

The government should focus on welfare & development centric administration and leave the religious administration to the people and society. Government should enforce law for independent and yet transparent administration. Any complaint on maladministration are investigated and truth should be brought out to public notice.

Appreciate "The Hindu" on providing platform to express views of both sides of the argument.

from:
Sampathkumar A S

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 11:05 IST

This is the problem. The government changes definition of 'secular' to its advantage as when when it is necessary. While, I have nothing against other faiths and their places of worship, it should be only fair that either those institutions are too brought under the government or release all religious establishments from the clutches of the government!

from:
chidambaram ganesan

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 10:35 IST

Hats up to Swami sir, it's a great service to this multicultural and multireligious nation, your efforts are highly appreciated and this will go long way in maintaining pluralism in this country and to handcuff the State from using its tool of secularism and it's effort of secularisation . Thank you sir your scholarly article is of great help for my research work related to secularism and pluralism. Thanks to The Hindu for publishing it and being non partisan

from:
Manojkumar

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 10:24 IST

It is indeed so sad that people and ironically the intellectuals in particular are ignorant of the limitations of the Government take over to be only for a limited period and that it should be reverted subsequently and that for over several decades the take over of temples still remains with the Government, and as rightly commented by Swami tantamount to perpetual contempt of the highest court. And then, Swami is right why the discrimination only against the Hindu, when you talk of 'secular' India?

from:
Kedarnath Rajah Aiyar

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 10:15 IST

A perfect insight to the reality. The matter would be much more clear if anyone read the book " Breaking India " by Rajiv Malhotra.

from:
Hari

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 09:59 IST

An excellent article. It is hardly surprising that the wealth of politicians in the dravidian parties increased exponentially even as more temples came under government control. What business does an atheist party have in running temples? If a temple is being mismanaged then the proper course of action is to replace the administrators. Best wishes to Subramanian Swamy for continued success and his relentless pursuit of liberating temples from government control.

from:
Viswanath

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 09:51 IST

While I agree with most of the arguments presented by the author, I find one contradiction. The assertion that priests in temples who perform religious services should be paid a government salary seems inconsistent with the authors views that in a secular country religious institutions should be devoid of state control.

from:
Yajas

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 09:18 IST

Dr. Swamy has been doing a great service to the people of India in fighting corruption and mismanagement by the government. Kudos to him! Temple properties have been looted by politicians in other states such Andhra Pradesh. I only hope people like Dr. Swamy can fight these cases and bring these properties under rightful temple management.

from:
Prasad

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 09:11 IST

Welcome article highlighting the sorry state of affairs for Hindu temples in India and especially in Tamil Nadu. Why only Hindu temples are targeted by politicians in a so called Secular government is also something to wonder about. While Hinduism is growing in popularity the public seems to be not watching how the Government is interfering in their temples. While it is important that all Religious institutions are properly managed the selective targeting of Hindu temples is wrong. It is time Hindus raise their voice in defense of their heritage.

from:
S.BalakrishnansS

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 09:02 IST

In a democratic country it is only fair and equitable that a worship place is treated as any other worship places and there is no rational explanation other than expediency why Hindu temples are treated unlike all other worship places. Such actions of a Government will only be seen as prejudicial and the community who suffers the highhandedness only will feel bitter and betrayed. It is time that all religions, the worshipers and their places of worship are treated with a common law applying equally.

from:
Saratchandran

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 08:35 IST

A much-needed common-sense article by Dr. Swamy.
I believe the government running and administering temples - including aspects that directly interfere with the performance of rituals, such as the appointment of priests - is probably not in keeping with the concept of secularism.
Just look around. There are so many "minor" temples where hereditary priesthood continues, and many of these have been in the same families for over ten generations. A five-minute conversation with such 'archakas' will convince one of their obvious scholarliness in matters of scripture, and their piety in the performance of ritual. Compare them with the outright misbehaved louts that have become 'priests' in so many major, government-administered temples.

from:
Anil Suri

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 08:35 IST

Kudos to Dr Subramanian Swamy for winning the case. Essentially the "Son" has won the case for the "Father" if you can understand it.
I visited a temple this weekend & its over 1000 yrs old. The rouge HR&CE dept. has not only paid the priests salary for the past 2 years but also have failed to upkeep the temple. this is in spite of the temple have 100+ acres of fertile land in Tanjore Delta. Their reason, the lands are not fertile enough & there's drought. Can anyone believe this?Thank to this landmark judgement every concerned citizen should now read the judgement & carry it with them & throw the Rouge HR&CE from our temples. As Swami Vivekananda said "Arise, Awake, and Stop not till the Goal is Reached" every hindu, regardless of denomination, must vow to get rid of this menace called HR&CE
The CM is well advised to de-notify this sacrilegious dept. immediately. this can be done as Shri Modi did in Gujarat. Else i dare the CM to also take control of Mosques & Churches.

from:
Ramesh Swamy

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 08:28 IST

Very few temple managements invest their surplus revenue for education, cultural enrichment, publications ,providing for the decent stay and other needs of the pilgrims etc.Administration of the temple funds should be given to an elected board where the govt can have a representative .Such board should be responsible to keep up the holy stature of each temple, including the often difficult task of overseeing the priests in their religious tasks. Temples engaging in commercial activities should be banned.

from:
L.K.Balasubramanian

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 08:23 IST

1.Excellent article bringing out facts which many of us may not be aware of. I only wish the author avoids excessive use of the words 'I' & ' my' which rob the merits from the article and smack of egoism.
2. The worst bane of Indian politics is double standards. I don't know when all religions will be treated equally. We have to pray to God and wait for that day.
3. The strange twist in the 'Sabanayakar' case is the excessive interest shown by sworn atheists. What does it matter to an atheist about what is practised inside a temple? Strangely, they are the ones shouting the loudest.
4. All this doesn't mean, if there are any malpractices by the Dikshithars, they shouldn't be curbed. Let us rectify them and allow the bhakthas to enjoy the vision of God, 'Chidambara Rahasyam' unhindered.

from:
S.Ganesh

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 06:33 IST

Mr. Swamy should understand that India is not a banana republic. Individual groups canât claim ownership for cultural assets which draws people from all sections of the society. Trying to question why minorities owned institutions are not governed by state is another weak point to evade the actual question.
If Swamyâs concern is corruption and mismanagement of temple assets, he should advocate policy formation within the legal framework to fix it. Instead promoting handing over cultural assets to some vested groups, will only cause social injustice and drive the weaker sections away from Hinduism.
Blaming Dravidian movement for every problem is not new to this author or to this flock as of course they canât digest the fact it helped the socially discriminated, marginalized people access to education, healthcare, right to work and equal pay. It is sad that this article is published on Martin Luther King Day who all his life fought for social justice and human demeaning human.

from:
Prabakar USA

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 05:44 IST

The SC judgement certainly restores a semblance of sanity to the much maligned word called "secularism". The motivation should be to free temples from state control rather than, repeat the same constitutionally incorrect step, as the erudite author asserts, and bring mosques and churches under state control. Two wrongs can not right a mistake !!
Also the heritage aspect of the places of worship, be it major temple or a small temple (typically thousands of them at every village boundary in Tamilnadu and South India in general) has to be seriously preserved. Many of these temples are easily more than 500 years old.
Allowing indiscriminate film shootings within the temple premises is also a cause for concern.

from:
Ramamoorthy Srinath

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 05:39 IST

Mr Swamy is concentraing on the temples in South India, where they are reasonably well managed (either by Goverment or by self-appointed officials like Dikshitars).
The temples in North India (Kasi, Puri etc) are so badly managed that no self-respecting Hindu will step into them. BJP or VHP will not make these temeples devotee friendly for the sake of losing votes and support of the heridatry priests.
On the question of rental revenue from the temple owned properties, the problem is with the rental laws and the contractor system inplace.
Accomodation in Mylapore temple owned properties is expensive. A one room tenement with common bath and toilet facilities would be going for over Rs1000 pm and the temple gets nothing. Adminsitrative reforms is the need of the hour not who controls the assets. Mr Swamy has done a lot of research, he should go to court with the facts and stop the loot. Shouting from the roof-tops is not going to solve the problem.

from:
mani sandilya

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 04:20 IST

In a secular nation there is no room for discriminatory treatment of Hindu places of worship. Govt should stay away from temple and its wealth. If can keep off of the places of worship of other religions then why not Hindu temples!

from:
Suvojit Dutta

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 04:11 IST

The write up shows that there are very few parallel to an intellectual like Subramanian Swamy who could put forth a view with a crystal clear logic. Long suffering devote Hindus must be thankful to his messianic zeal. We wish him all best for the successful liberation of all the Hindu Temples from the clutches of unscrupulous politicians and their side kicks. Also fully endorse his efforts to expose the pseudo secular hypocrisy credential of the Government in failing to rectify the misappropriation and mismanagement going on at some Churches and Mosques.

from:
N.G. Krishnan

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 04:00 IST

Kudos to Dr. Swamy for the efforts. It's very sad that the antiquities of the Tamil culture are destroyed by the so called Dravidian movements the claims of which are to preserve & protect the same. They do not realize the damages being caused by sub-par & non-expert maintenance of the great temples. Even If the corresponding Trusts can't handle those temples, what business does the Secular State have in interfering with Hindu religious entities. The obviously gaping hole of non-interference with the entities of other religions is damning to the claims of the State. This is utter non-sense & unfairness to the core. Hope the government comes to its senses at the earliest. But given the financial activities involved the State not going to leave out this milking cow. Responsible People & Courts are the only recourse to this glaring mis-governance !

from:
maya

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 02:43 IST

A.Srivathsan's article reflected such a state of ignorance of dharmic body of knowledge and its practices and practitioners that it was beneath the dignity of a response. Nonetheless to the degree that Subramaniam Swamy has taken valuable time to preserve the legal rights of this temple community he is to be commended. The evidence is very clear that where there is "Big" Government there is inequality, corruption and inevitably regression. The sooner the government led by motivated anti people ideologies gets out of the way of a free people generally and Hindus specifically the sooner India will progress.

from:
Rakesh Kaul

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 02:23 IST

Congratulations Sir! you are doing yeomen service for the welfare of the Hindu religion and the people and paramacharya will guide you as always.
If the (pesudeo) economists feel that Govt cannot run companies because it is not the work of the Govt to do, where then they gain competence to run the temples?
Do not understand why is the SC not taking suo moto cognisance of this maladministration and render an everlasting order?

from:
Vijay

Posted on: Jan 20, 2014 at 02:22 IST

A brilliant article, its people like you whom we need to find out how corrupt these pseudo-secular govts have been. They have been looting the trust of the Hindu people to make their lives comfortable, and pretending to be secular. The fact that in a Hindu majority country, these temples which are a relic of ancient times are being looted by these greedy, corrupt politicians and government officials shows the wide apathy towards the majority Hindus, who do not fight back. Its time we fought back and gained control of what is ours rightfully. We need to preserve our ancient temples from destruction in the hands of these pseudo-seculars.

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